DRINKERS at a trendy Rugby bar are stealing the limelight from performers at the neighbouring theatre - by having too much of a good time....

DRINKERS at a trendy Rugby bar are stealing the limelight from performers at the neighbouring theatre - by having too much of a good time.

Music, chatter and the chinking of glasses from the increasingly popular Glasnost vodka bar, in Henry Street, reverberates through the walls to interrupt thespians next door.

Some audience members have complained they couldn?t properly hear dialogue because of the party sounds from next door.

Now the theatre has had to put extra staff at its doors to ensure young revellers don?t get in the way of theatregoers as they come and go.

Theatre press officer Steve Orton said the problem occurred during quieter plays, when only one person is on stage and there is no background music.

He said: ?The noise has become a problem this year during quiet moments when people can hear noise from Glasnost.

?Also lots of the visitors to Glasnost are young people who?ve had too much too drink and our visitors can be quite shocked by what they get up to.

?It?s quite easy to feel annoyed but we are working towards resolving it and are in amicable dialogue with the licensee.

?Big business will always win over local things like amateur theatre so we just hope we can resolve it with dialogue.?

Glasnost bosses say their sound-proofed wall is three times the recommended thickness and the theatre should consider it?s own sound-proofing.

Paul Kinsella, operations manager at Glasnost, which also has a bar in Leamington, said: ?The situation we are in at the moment is they come to tell us when they have a particularly quiet show and we try to keep the noise down.

?I don?t know what efforts they have been making, but the theatre is old and maybe they should look at improving their own sound-proofing.?